Classical Gas(oline)

It’s the little things that uncover themselves, often without prompting, that make writing for The Groove so amusing. Mike Post, award-winning television theme music composer (famous for The A-Team, Magnum, P.I., Doogie Howser, M.D., CHiPs, Hardcastle and McCormick, NewsRadio, Quantum Leap, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, The Rockford Files, NYPD Blue, The Greatest American Hero, and of course, Law & Order) won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for the playful, finger-pickin’ 1968 single by Mason Williams titled, Classical Gas. Mr. Williams, then the head writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, would also take home two Grammys of his own for the song, which was originally titled Classical Gasoline (artistic and virtuosic fuel for classical guitarists). The track appears as the first song on side B of the featured album, The Mason Williams Phonograph Record (Warner Bros. – Seven Arts Records, Cat. No. WS 1729).